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Then it makes a hole in the dead caterpillar's side and rolls itself out.

Now, dear children, I do think this is a most striking lesson. That deadly, and at first little thing, may well represent sin. And then see how exactly it all teaches what the text teaches, and indeed how it explains the text. It was the caterpillar's evil desire that led it into danger. So you see how the caterpillar and James both teach the same lesson. "Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own evil desire and enticed. And evil desire, when it conceives, brings forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death."

JOHN CROFTS.

FOURTH EVENING.

Opening hymn: "Lord, a Little Band and Lowly." Lesson: Mark x. 46-52. Closing hymn: "All Praise" (in some versions "Glory") " to Thee, my God, this Night."

I was walking quite alone on the bank of the River Nile in Egypt, some hundreds of miles away from where it runs into the sea. Suddenly I heard shouts behind me on the sunny plain, and these came from three men running fast after me. "Perhaps they are robbers," I thought, so I waited quietly under a tall palm-tree until they came near, and I held my loaded gun.

The men rushed up close, then they all knelt down on the sand, and then I found two of them were leading a poor fellow who was perfectly blind, but they brought him to me to be cured of blindness because I was "an Englishman."

Poor creatures! they did not know that only God can give sight to the blind. Jesus, who was a man, could cure the blind, because Jesus was also God.

Will you look at what David says about this in Psalm cxlvi.? Then turn to the eleventh chapter of St. Matthew, and see what the Lord Jesus says about the blind.

Well, I was under a palm-tree. Now a palm-tree has a very tall stem growing up, and very long roots growing down. See how pretty it looks even in our picture (Fig. 1). David, who was once a shepherd boy, wrote a most beautiful verse about the palmtree. It is in Psalm xcii., and will you now read it? He says the righteous shall "flourish like the palm-tree." Now the palm-tree has beautiful leaves all the year round, and it has very sweet fruit, called "dates," some of which we can buy in England.

The palm grows in the sandy desert, but its long roots go down below the hot, dry sand, into the cool waters underneath. I

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Then they leave their common rooms and live for some days under green bowers in their court yards to remind them of God's goodness long ago. Once when Jesus was coming to Jerusalem the people "took branches of palm-trees," and you will see what they did with them if you turn to the 12th chapter of St. John and find the verse for yourselves. We hear about palm branches to be used when Jesus will come back in glory to meet those men and women and boys and girls who love Him now. you find the verse about this in the Book of the Revelation in 7th chapter? See how it tells us that we shall carry palm branches. People who were conquerors and who got victory used to do that. Little boys and girls, who are very weak, can still have victory through Jesus, "who giveth us the victory," as St. Paul tells you in 1st Corinthians 15th chapter; and will you find the verse? It is a long way on in that chapter.

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David says more about "the righteous" in that verse you have read in the ninety-second Psalm, "He shall spread abroad like a cedar in Lebanus."

Look at our picture No. 2, which shows a cedar on Mount Lebanon. It has not one tall trunk, like the palm-tree, but it has many spreading branches. The cedar does not grow in the sandy plain, but it clings to the rugged rock on the lofty mountains, with strong crooked roots to hold it fast, so that it can stand in terrible blasts of wind and

snowstorms; and the more the wind blows the more the roots hold to the firm rock.

the Nile the river branches out into seven streams, and all of them used to run into the

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Fig. 2.

Once that great cedar was only a little shrub, but it grew taller, broader, and stronger; just as young little Christian boys and girls will grow in grace if they are rooted in the "Rock of Ages ;" and "that rock was Christ" (1. Cor. x. 4).

Dear young readers, try to be like the cedar, "rooted and grounded" in Him, while you are like the palm-tree, with sweet fruit in life and victory after death.

Now let us go back to the River Nile again. I have walked by it hundreds of miles, and sailed on it in large vessels and in steamboats, and I have skimmed over its wonderful waters quite alone in my little

canoe.

The greatest traveller in Africa was the good, loving, brave Doctor Livingstone, who was once a poor ragged boy in a cotton factory, but afterwards he was for many years a good missionary of Jesus Christ in Africa, where at last he died.

This wonderful River Nile rises in the middle of Africa, and for the last twelve hundred miles of its course it flows on to the sea without any other stream running into it. So the sun dries it up, and it is smaller near the end.

Pharaoh and the Egyptians in the days of Moses lived in that "tongue" of the river shown in our picture No. 3. One of the huge pointed stones which the ancient Egyptians carved and set up in their temples is now being brought from Africa in a ship to London. It is called "Cleopatra's Needle." I saw it last on the sea-shore in Egypt, and perhaps Moses himself looked on that very stone, for it is the oldest obelisk in Egypt.

About two hundred miles from the end of

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sea, so it was called "The Seven-mouthed Nile," and the river itself is still called a sea" by the Arabs. The picture above shows this, where the streams spread like a 'tongue." Now look at the verse near the end of the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, and read what God said He would do about this "tongue," and this River Nile, called then "the Egyptian Sea," as the Egyptians call it even now. Much of the prophecy has already come quite true. For now, instead of seven streams running into the Mediterranean Sea, there are only two, and a railway bridge crosses the Nile, so that men now "go over the river dry shod;" and perhaps the new railway now open there may be the "highway" which is spoken of in the last verse of the chapter.

Try and find out a verse in the third chapter of Exodus where the Israelites walked through the sea on dry land, and another verse in the third chapter of Joshua, which tells how they marched dry through a river forty years afterwards.

You know that our Lord Jesus was once in Egypt when He was very young, and you can read about it in Matthew ii. 12-21; and I hope to tell you in my next paper about the town in Egypt where our Saviour lived.

Like Moses living in Egypt, Jesus lived in a sinful world, and, like Moses, He leads us out of sin, and gives us God's law and God's comfort in the wilderness of this world. Like Joshua, Jesus leads us through death (as the river Jordan), and He will take all His flock and all His little "lambs" into the "holy land" of heaven, the land of promise, where He lives now, and where He will be our king in everlasting glory.

JOHN MACGREGOR.

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OUR MONTHLY SURVEY.

I.-HOME NOTES.

THE CHURCH CONGRESS.

AMONG the numerous assemblies which meet for

conference and discussion upon various important subjects, at this season of the year, the Church Congress necessarily holds a prominent place, and must attract a large share of attention. The gathering took place this year at Croydon, under the presidency of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the sittings extended over four days, commencing on October 9th. The principal meetings were attended by a very large body of the clergy, and by a great number of ladies and gentlemen, including very many eminent and well-known persons, and representing in some degree the chief schools of thought which find a common home in the Established Church. It was clear to an observer, however, that the High Church party were in the ascendant, and sentiments which expressed most emphatically the sacerdotal, or at least the clerical, idea of the Church received the loudest measure of applause. On the other hand a reference by the Archbishop to the Church over which he presides as "the Church of the Reformation" evoked very emphatic tokens of dissent. The Archbishop's address was a skilfully worded and at the same time kindly assertion of the comprehensiveness of the Church, which found a place for men so widely separated on many points as Keble, Arnold, and Simeon. The temper manifested by the Congress upon the whole, throughout its discussions, was very excellent, being almost entirely free from that bitterness and heat which have too often stamped the proceedings of this and similar assemblies with dishonour. The programme of topics was quite a model of arrangement and comprehensiveness.

It included

and mutual toleration between different schools of
thought within the Church," "The readjustments, if
any, desirable in the relations between Church and

State," and "The mutual relations of the Church and
Nonconformity at various periods of the nineteenth
century." It would be untrue to say that the spirit
manifested by all present, and the views propounded
on all points, were unexceptionable, but there was a
great deal of honest outspokenness on all sides.
Those present generally seemed to feel the need of
seeking for points of sympathy and union, and this
feeling was not lost in the expression of the most
divergent opinions. We were sorry, however, to
notice that the subject of "the relations of the Church
and Nonconformity" brought out the weakest and
worst side of the Congress proceedings. Allusions
to the work and claims of the Liberation Society, and
to the old question of the parish churchyards, seemed
to fan up at once a very large amount of bitterness
It was well at any rate
and ill-feeling into a flame.
that Mr. Thomas Hughes was present, although he
was listened to with impatience, to warn the clergy
that many of them are making, in the opinion of the
country at large and of such staunch friends of the
Established Church as the House of Lords, a great mis-
take as to the Burials Bill question. But altogether
it is well that all subjects should be treated with frank-
ness and fulness from all sides, and it is in the fact
that Church congresses thus bring men face to face,
and give them opportunities to speak out before each
other their opposing convictions, and also to "pro-
voke one another to love and to good works," that
their value lies. Is it too much to hope that this free
discussion will eventually lead Episcopalians and non-
Episcopalians to understand each other better?"

LIGHT IN DARK PLACES.

Amongst the many good works which claim our attention and sympathy, those which are carried on amidst the squalid courts and alleys of our great cities always appeal to us with peculiar force. Life in such places of abode certainly exists under disadvantages which few of us, more happily situated, can realise. The first conditions of truly wholesome living-space, light, and air, God's freest natural gifts to man-are wanting, wanting at any rate in anything like adequate abundance. The people pine in many instances like plants kept in perpetual shade; clean

some eighteen or twenty different subjects for discussion in general or sectional meetings, and yet no subject appeared to be unduly hurried through, and very valuable observations were made on almost all. There was scarcely any of the desultory comment, pro and con, which makes up a great deal of open discussion generally, but a set of "readers," who were allowed twenty minutes, and of "speakers," who were allowed fifteen minutes, was appointed to deal with each question. The speakers were, in most cases, men of generally acknowledged ability, and were chosen on the principle of allowing the fullest expression to different classes of opinion and sym-liness and even decency are almost impossible; and pathy. The excellence of this method for the purposes of the Congress was manifest in the result. The preparation of a programme on such a scheme, dealing with questions so numerous and important, must have been a work involving immense labour and no little thoughtfulness and skill.

The subjects which secured the largest audiences were “Mohammedanism in relation to Christianity, and the prospects of Missionary enterprise towards it," "The best means of promoting united action VII. N.S.

the fierce excitement of drink and the low attractions of the gaudy, comfortless ginshop are sought as a stimulus for the depressed and jaded system, and as a refuge from the wretched rooms which cannot with any propriety be called homes. Those who are familiar with London know Drury Lane as a region in which such courts and alleys still unhappily abound. The report of a mission which is being carried on there by Mr. Hambleton and several fellow workers has been sent to us and we have read it with much interest.

We should like to bring this work under the notice of readers having time for inquiring into its character more fully and the disposition to help it by gifts of money or in other ways. The mission premises, known as the "Workman's Hall," are situated at 65 and 66, Drury Lane, W.C. Mr. Hambleton earnestly invites any who may be able to do so, to visit the place and see what is being done. Describing the state of things in that densely crowded and miserable neighbourhood, the report states that "there are nine thousand families living in single rooms,” and that “two thousand lodgers inhabit the wretched abodes called lodging-houses." Of course police-inspection does something towards keeping down the mischief which has a constant tendency to arise in such quarters; but how much remains for the Christian philanthropist to deal with can be imagined. Mr. Hambleton's work appears to be comprehensive in its scope and intelligently adapted to the circumstances of the case. Besides religious services, Bible-classes, and a Sundayschool, we find mention made of popular lectures, a logic class, children's meetings, youths' improvement and recreative classes, and temperance meetings, and of a library of sixteen hundred volumes, and a savings bank. There is also a "band of mercy," for inculcating and promoting kindness to dumb animals; and we are particularly pleased to notice that "the mission of flowers" is recognised. Two thousand bedding-out plants have been supplied to the mission by Her Majesty's Commissioners of Woods and Forests, for distribution among the inhabitants of the district, and many of these may be seen growing in the windows of those dingy lanes and streets. Mr. Hambleton notes that wherever flowers are cultivated in these homes of the poor, the people are "of the better sort." This accords with our own observation, which has led us more than once in these pages to draw attention to the usefulness of efforts of this kind. Flowers seem to bring with them, even into the humblest cottage or the most squalid room, something of brightness, of beauty, and of hope; and the encouragement of their cultivation may fitly and wisely be made part of a mission intended to serve the highest ends. The object of the Drury Lane mission seems to be to set in operation as many useful agencies of all kinds as possible, and so by all

means to save some. The sad condition into which men and women may fall and poor little children be born, even in the midst of the greatest centre of Christian civilisation in the world, is a dark stain upon our social system, and gives glimpses of the possibilities of human nature in some respects more startling and dreadful than heathenism can afford. Those labouring faithfully and earnestly to remove this reproach and to meet this terrible need, deserve the sympathy and aid of Christian people everywhere. The following observations which we find in the report are worthy of attention:

"We discourage as much as possible systematic relief; indeed, the pauperising taint is completely stamped out. In cases of illness, or sudden misfortune that we personally know, we of course help, as

in duty we are bound to do; occasionally, as at Christmas or in severe weather, clothing, a small loan, coals, grocery, and Christmas dinners to the extremely poor attendants, a service of this kind is most acceptable, and does no harm to the recipients. Our successful penny banks and temperance societies have rendered the relief system almost unnecessary. The people have now learnt self-respect and selfreliance, and give more money than they receive. What is spent in kind is mostly in the shape of social parties for the poor men's Bible-classes, who are hardly accessible to any permanent religious influences without them. Ever since a hungry child told us she 'would rather have something to eat than all our jaw,' we have somehow felt that a change in position would prompt us to make the same remark."

SOCIAL ASPECTS OF GREAT CRIMES.

It is a very suggestive fact that for more than a week during the past month the daily newspapers devoted more space to the report and discussion of a trial for murder, alleged to have been committed in the neighbourhood of London, than to the record of the fearful war between Russia and Turkey, or of the desolation and suffering caused by the famine in India. The case of the four persons, two young men and two young women, believed to have been implicated in bringing about, by cruelty and starvation, the death of the wife of one of the young men, seemed to excite for the moment greater attention than the horrible carnage of fiercely-contested battlefields, or than the progress of a calamity which affects the lives of millions. The fact is, that war and famine are too colossal in their proportions, too vast in the scale of their disastrous effects, for ordinary imagina tions to realise, when the scenes of suffering are distant. The death by starvation of a single person in our own streets startles us, at least for a time, more than the news of a province decimated by the failure of successive harvests; one ghastly crime committed at our own doors shocks the majority perhaps more painfully than the tidings of a conflict in which hundreds or even thousands have been slain in ordinary warfare. The difference is not wholly unreasonable; for the preservation of social virtue, the maintenance of social order, the purity and efficiency of the administration of justice, the vindication of law, the public rebuke of iniquity, the assertion of the sacred

ness of human life-all these are matters which come immediately home to all of us, and which must be jealously watched over by the community at large. No doubt a good deal of morbid curiosity is aroused by the details of a great crime, and a good deal of bad taste, as well as want of high principle, is shown by some portions of the press in gratifying it. It is offensive to find the columns of the newspaper which lies upon the breakfast-table, and which comes into the hands of all the members of the family, filled with revolting and minute accounts of the facts which are brought to light in criminal procedure. And yet it is well to remember that one of the safeguards of

justice in this country is the publicity given to the transactions of our courts; and it shows a want of thoughtful reflection to inveigh too lightly and sweep

ingly against the part which newspapers take in securing this publicity. The saddest thing is that crime should be so common, and that thus the materials for these extended reports should be so abundant. In the case to which we have referred, the sentence of death which had been pronounced upon the four prisoners has been commuted, chiefly it appears on the ground of medical testimony, which was not forthcoming at the trial, to the effect that the immediate cause of death was disease of the brain. The most anxious care has been expended upon the matter by the Home Secretary and the judges who advised with him; and the revision of the original sentence, while it shows that there are points which need consideration in the method of | our criminal procedure, will we suppose be accepted by the country generally as adequately meeting the legal requirements of the case. That all the convicts were parties to a course of action utterly inhumane and immoral is perfectly clear, and it is deeply to be regretted that anything should have occurred to put this fact in the background, and to make it appear as if the criminals were in peril of being unjustly dealt with. It becomes none of us to speak hardly and harshly of those who have fallen into sin. Each one who knows himself is conscious of a share in the common sinfulness of humanity, and of personal transgressions; and when we look upon the greatest criminals we may well recall the old Puritan's often-quoted exclamation, There goes John Bradford, but for the grace of God!" The career of these young people, who occupied a fairly respectable social position, and who went about looking and acting to all appearance very much like hundreds of other people with whom we meet every day, serves as a terrible warning of the slipperiness of the path of vice and crime, and gives emphasis to the solemn warning, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”

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THE HOP HARVEST IN KENT.

The gathering of hops is one of the most picturesque sights which the field-labour of English farms can afford. The harvest field has certainly lost something of its romance and human interest, whatever it may have gained in productiveness, since the power of steam has so largely supplanted the arm of the labourer. The ingathering of the fruits of the earth is so directly connected with the happiness and welfare of men, that the snort, and scream, and whirl of the engine seem sadly out of place as substitutes for the song of the reaper and the many signs of life and gladness which accompany the presence of those who come to gather in the gifts with which God has crowned the long toils and patient waiting of the year. But, happily, we are disposed to say, the application of machinery to the picking of hops seems to be an impossibility, at any rate for the present. Those fragrant clusters can only be picked by the hand from the tall and graceful creepers on which they are found, and which twine themselves in exquisite festoons upon the poles placed for their

support. Happily, too, the fingers of women, and of even little children, can be employed in this light labour; all that is required in order to fulfil a task which will yield a very profitable return is a certain deftness of hand which women and children often possess in a higher degree than men. And so, from year to year, when the mellow light of September gently floods the fields with beauty, thousands of men, women, and children, from dark streets and dingy houses in London, especially in the East End, hasten away by train to find some three or four weeks of occupation and enjoyment in the hop gardens of Kent. It is a famous treat for the little ones and a grand time of enjoyment for the elder ones. Indeed the hop-picking excursion occupies much the same place in the domestic arrangements of these poor people as the trip to the seaside or the continent occupies in the plans of the wealthier classes, and when the weather is fine probably is in many cases just as fruitful a source of enjoyment; while the poor man has the advantage of his rich neighbour in this, that the larger the family he takes with him, if his children are not mere infants, the larger may be the pocketful of money which he brings back with him to London. There are families who manage to clear twenty pounds by their expedition. There is, however, a reverse side to the picture. The accommodation provided for the lodging of the hop-pickers was some years ago of the most miserable description, utterly inadequate for health and comfort as well as for decency. We are happy to know that a great improvement has taken place. Many of the owners of the hop-gardens have been led to interest themselves in the welfare of these annual visitors. Comfortable temporary buildings have been in many instances erected, affording separate lodging for men and women, and arrangements for cooking. The clergy and ministers of various districts, with excellent and kind-hearted farmers and other residents, have taken an active part in this good work and in promoting in various other ways the temporal and spiritual welfare of the people, and the Archbishop of Canterbury has lent to the movement his valuable influence and assistance. is believed that the average condition of the hoppickers is now better in the hop-gardens than it is in their own too often wretched homes in London. A friend who has been staying in the midst of the hop district this season, tells us that he has been much struck by what he has seen. There is a marked improvement in the tone, conduct, and appearance of many who have been at work there. Of course there is much that is repulsive and melancholy still. Illconditioned people who escape from London for a time to country scenes and country air, do not always change their character and manners for the better, any more than do those who are above them in the social scale, when they for a time escape from the restraints of their every-day surroundings. There is a good deal of drunkenness in the neighbourhood of the hopgardens, and some wretched victims of their own sin and folly will squander in debauchery and excess the entire earnings of themselves and their families during

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